It's the same old horror set-up; A cheating wife is caught by her supposedly out of town husband and both the wife and her lover are tortured and murdered. The husband takes a new wife (with an agenda, of course) and the spirits of the restless undead return to make their lives a living hell. Paul Muller is the evil scientist who ruthlessly tortures his wife and her lover then gives the wife's blood to the embittered housekeeper (Helga Liné) who is suddenly youthful again. She's extremely jealous when Muller marries the dead wife's half sister (a blonde wigged Barbara Steele, also present as the brunette first wife) with the intention of getting his hands on the estate that sister left sister. But the spirits of the not completely dead want their revenge and the blonde Steele begins to have nightmares which fits completely in plan with Muller's motives of having her declared insane so he can get his hands on the entire estate. Not if the ghosts have their way, and this is where the real nightmare comes into play.
Not for the squeamish, "Nightmare Castle" features torture through acid and electrocution, and the victims must suffer greatly before they go off into the restless spirit world of the still wandering undead. Steele has played this type of role many times before, most notably in the cult classic "Black Sunday", and while her part is fun to watch (as always), the technical flaws of this badly dubbed film are sometimes difficult to stand. The characters for the most part are all one-dimensional but the execution (pardon the pun) is exceptional and the macabre elements of the story truly gripping if one is strong enough to stomach it. Helga Liné goes from hunchbacked servant to still embittered beauty so rapidly that it takes a minute to figure out what transpired. Still, there's a lot of fun to be found in this Z-grade Gothic thriller if you can get past the poor photography, extremely tinny sound and sometimes maudlin acting.
Not for the squeamish, "Nightmare Castle" features torture through acid and electrocution, and the victims must suffer greatly before they go off into the restless spirit world of the still wandering undead. Steele has played this type of role many times before, most notably in the cult classic "Black Sunday", and while her part is fun to watch (as always), the technical flaws of this badly dubbed film are sometimes difficult to stand. The characters for the most part are all one-dimensional but the execution (pardon the pun) is exceptional and the macabre elements of the story truly gripping if one is strong enough to stomach it. Helga Liné goes from hunchbacked servant to still embittered beauty so rapidly that it takes a minute to figure out what transpired. Still, there's a lot of fun to be found in this Z-grade Gothic thriller if you can get past the poor photography, extremely tinny sound and sometimes maudlin acting.